Department of Health and Social Care

Dental Services: Finance

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish a breakdown of the costings of each element of the dentistry recovery plan; and whether funding will be delivered from existing underspends by ICBs.

Andrea Leadsom: The Dentistry Recovery Plan is fully-funded with £200 million and will deliver new initiatives to address the challenges facing National Health Service dentistry, including an extra 2.5 million appointments.Overall NHS spending totals will be set at Budget in the usual way. We are committed to protecting this funding for dentistry purposes and we will ringfence this funding in 2024 to 2025. We will issue guidance to integrated care boards shortly through NHS England’s 2024 to 2025 revenue finance and contracting guidance.The Plan sets out the following funding commitments for actions: Golden Hellos of £20,000 to be offered per dentist, for up to 240 dentists over three years; a new patient premium, set at either £50 or £15 depending on the treatment required; an increase of the minimum unit of dental activity value to £28; and Government investment of an additional £300 million to enable 75 upper-tier local authorities to create more Family Hubs, and to improve vital services including oral health support to give every baby the best start in life.

Dental Services: Contracts

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of how many people will be eligible under the premium for patients who have not seen a dentist in over two years; and if she will publish the modelling to determine the level at which payments should be set to incentivise dentists to treat patients with (a) simple and (b) more complex needs.

Andrea Leadsom: As announced on 7 February 2024 in our plan to recover and reform National Health Service dentistry, to help services recover from the pandemic, we will offer dental practices an additional payment for each new patient requiring treatment. The scheme will start from 1 March 2024 and run for 13 months, making it faster and simpler for new patients to access NHS dental care. The purposes of this scheme will be to support anyone who has not been able to receive NHS dental care in the preceding two years. These payments will support dentists in treating approximately one million new patients.The payment level, of either £15 or £50, depends on the treatment required, and recognises the additional time that may be needed for practices to assess, stabilise and manage the oral health needs of patients who have not received NHS dental care for a significant period. The £50 payment is approximately equal to 50% of the money awarded for a Band 2a course of treatment. Therefore, a similar uplift would equate to £15 for a Band 1 course of treatment.

Dental Services

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will set out a timeline for the individual elements of the dentistry recovery plan to take effect.

Andrea Leadsom: The Dentistry Recovery Plan, published on 7 February 2024, sets out a number of actions which will improve access for patients, by helping the sector to recover activity more quickly, addressing underlying issues, and setting out the action needed for longer term reform of the system.To help services recover from the pandemic, we will offer dental practices an additional payment for each new patient requiring treatment. This new patient premium will be a time-limited scheme launching in March 2024 and ending in March 2025.We will deploy dental vans offering appointments to patients in targeted rural and coastal communities, starting later this year in the most under-served areas. To support practices in areas where recruitment is particularly challenging, we will launch a new Golden Hello scheme, and will decide on locations in the coming months.We are exploring whether a tie-in would ensure that dentists spend a greater proportion of their time delivering National Health Service dental care. We will launch a consultation on this policy in spring. We are also launching Smile for Life, a major new focus on prevention and good oral health in young children, to be delivered via nurseries and other settings providing Start for Life services and promoted by Family Hubs, as well as introducing dental outreach to primary schools in under-served areas. A consultation on expanding fluoridation of water to the north-east of England will also be launched shortly

Dental Services

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate has she made of the number of urgent and emergency dental appointments that will be delivered as a result of the dentistry recovery plan.

Andrea Leadsom: Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million of funding, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment.We are committed to evaluating the impacts of the measures included in our plan, and we will publish monthly data on progress once available. No estimates are currently available of the number of urgent and emergency dental appointments that will be delivered through the plan.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with NHS England on updated guidance for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder in (a) children and (b) adults.

Maria Caulfield: Departmental officials and ministers hold discussions with NHS England regularly on a range of issues, including eating disorders for children and adults.

Dental Services: North Shropshire

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the demographics of North Shropshire constituency; and what plans she has to take account of those demographics in the ICB budget for dentistry.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans her Department has to (a) establish and (b) fund an avoidant restrictive food intake disorder pathway.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Agency Nurses: Expenditure

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much NHS England spent on agency nurses in each of the last five years.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Care Workers and Health Services: Migrant Workers

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the failure of some companies that sponsor people on Skilled Worker Visas not following up job opportunities in the health and care sector.

Helen Whately: The situation described would constitute a breach of a sponsorship licence duty. UK Visas and Immigration would take action to investigate the sponsor who has failed to comply with their duties. This may result in a sponsor having their licence revoked, therefore losing their ability to recruit staff from overseas. We have published guidance for prospective overseas candidates to help them make informed decisions and prepare for life in the United Kingdom. The guidance sets out: what candidates should check in their employment contracts before signing; what working rights and standards they can expect in the UK; and how to recognise and deal with exploitation.

Dementia: Voluntary Work

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to encourage the NHS to train volunteers to (a) help dementia patients in hospital with eating and (b) otherwise support them.

Helen Whately: We want all relevant staff and volunteers to have received appropriate training to provide high quality care to people with dementia, whether in hospital or in the community.Individual trusts are responsible for ensuring their staff and volunteers are trained to carry out their role. Volunteers supporting the delivery of clinical care receive training when they join and will only engage in activities within their role-specific training and qualifications. They will perform tasks within safeguarding guidelines with clinical staff at hand to support.There are a variety of resources available on the NHS England E-learning for Health platform, including a programme on dementia care, designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce.Guidance on dementia care in hospital is referenced in The Dementia Care Pathway: Full implementation guidance, and signals that commissioners should continue to actively engage in local system leadership. An improvement agenda should be developed jointly with key partners, including healthcare providers, social care, local government, and the voluntary and independent sectors.

Emergency Calls: Mental Health

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with the (a) Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) Secretary pf State for the Home Department on taking steps to increase resources for (i) police, (ii) ambulance services and (iii) 111 phonebanks as part of the Right Care, Right Person policy.

Helen Whately: The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy has met with the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire on a number of occasions as part of a Ministerial Working Group, which has been established to oversee the Right Care, Right Person implementation (RCRP).Although there is currently no additional funding specifically allocated to deliver RCRP, NHS England will work closely with the Department to refine existing national resource estimates, based on intelligence from local systems, as they develop their plans for implementation.

Dementia: Clinical Trials

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the participation of people living with Dementia in clinical trials.

Andrew Stephenson: The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is supporting a range of activities to increase the participation of people living with dementia in clinical trials.In January 2024, the NIHR announced the Dementia-Translational Research Collaboration Trials Network (D-TRC TN) which is supported by almost £50 million of funding over five years. This will expand the United Kingdom’s early phase clinical trial capabilities in dementia, speeding up the development of new treatments. The D-TRC TN will increase opportunities for people with dementia to take part in clinical trials, irrespective of where they live in the UK. The NIHR also works in partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Scotland to deliver Join Dementia Research (JDR), an online platform which enables the involvement of people with a dementia diagnosis and their carers to take part in a range of research, including clinical trials. When volunteers register for JDR, the information they provide is used to match them to studies which are suitable for them to take part in, both online, nationally and in their local areas. Almost 10% of people registered on JDR have a dementia or mild cognitive impairment diagnosis.

Bowel Cancer: Screening

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many tests for lynch syndrome were funded by NHS England in 2022.

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of Cancer Alliances that are offering close family members of Lynch syndrome patients tests for that syndrome in accordance with NICE guidance.

Andrew Stephenson: There are several different stages to testing for Lynch syndrome. We know from local audit data that, in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines, the mean proportion of colorectal cancer patients who receive an initial tumour test, immunohistochemistry or microsatellite instability, for Lynch syndrome is 94%, and for endometrial cancer is 95%. Although some funding has been provided to Cancer Alliances by NHS England to support this testing, we do not hold records of the number of tests carried out nationally. Where the result of the initial tumour test indicates Lynch syndrome, patients are referred for germline testing, which is commissioned directly by NHS England. Testing of family members of Lynch syndrome patients is not a direct Cancer Alliance responsibility. The 17 NHS Clinical Genetics Services are commissioned to provide predictive testing for family members when a diagnosis of Lynch Syndrome has been made in a first degree relative, in accordance with NICE guidance.

Smoking: Young People

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the inclusion of heated tobacco products in the generational smoking ban on the Government's smokefree 2030 ambition.

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Public Health England's research and analysis paper entitled Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018, published in March 2018, what recent assessment her Department has made of the relevance of that paper's finding that compared with cigarette smoke, heated tobacco products are likely to expose users and bystanders to lower levels of particulate matter and harmful and potentially harmful compounds.

Andrea Leadsom: Smoking is the number one entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death in this country. It is responsible for 80,000 yearly deaths in the United Kingdom, and one in four of all UK cancer deaths. It costs our country £17 billion a year, £14 billion of which through lost productivity alone. It puts huge pressure on the National Health Service and social care, costing over £3 billion a year.The evidence is clear that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption, and all tobacco products are harmful. There is also clear evidence of toxicity from heated tobacco in laboratory studies. The aerosol generated by heated tobacco also contains carcinogens, and there will be a risk to the health of anyone using these products.The upcoming legislation proposes to align to existing age of sale legislation, which includes any product containing tobacco, both smoked and smokeless, and intended for oral or nasal use, and cigarette papers. In the Government response to the consultation Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, published on 29 January 2024, 63.8% of respondents agreed that all tobacco products should be included in the new age of sale restrictions.The report commissioned by Public Health England in 2018 concluded that with a diverse and mature UK vape market which adult smokers can use to help them to quit smoking, it is currently not clear whether heated tobacco products provide any advantage as an additional potential harm reduction product.

Alcoholic Drinks: Consumption

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the level of awareness among (a) men and (b) women of Government guidance on the advised weekly consumption of units of alcohol.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department keeps the findings of academic research on the Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines under regular review. We also regularly collect data on weekly alcohol consumption amongst men and women through the Health Survey for England, which is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/health-survey-for-england/2021/part-3-drinking-alcohol.

Dental Services

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish an impact assessment of the dentistry recovery plan.

Andrea Leadsom: We are committed to evaluating the impacts of the measures within our plan, including the additional 1.5 million courses of National Health Service dentistry treatment or the 2.5 million NHS dentistry appointments, that will be delivered.To support this, we have started to publish monthly data on local NHS dental activity at the integrated care board level, and we will publish data on progress towards delivering the additional treatment, when the data is available. We will continue to take evidence-based steps to improve access to dental care for all who need it, and evaluation is a key part of that.

Dentistry: North Shropshire

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dentists the golden hello offer has recruited in North Shropshire constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: We want to encourage all professionals to commit more of their time to National Health Service work, and to work in areas of the country with a low provision of NHS dental care. That is why we announced the Golden Hello scheme, in Our Plan to Recover and Reform NHS Dentistry. Payments will be phased over three years and require a commitment to stay in that area, delivering NHS work for at least three years. We will decide on locations in the coming months.The Dentistry Recovery Plan will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients, and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. The plan sets out a number of actions which will improve access for patients by helping the sector to recover activity more quickly, addressing underlying issues, and setting out the action needed for longer term reform of the system.

Dentistry: Training

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new dental training places she plans to create in North Shropshire constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: We are establishing a governance structure to work with the Office for Students and key stakeholders to develop a methodology for allocating dental undergraduate student expansion, focussing on areas that have dental workforce challenges, and aligning the methodology principles to those being developed for medical expansion.

Dental Health and Dental Services

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how her Department will assess which areas have the poorest (a) oral health and (b) access to dentists.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department assesses oral health needs and access to dentistry through a range of published indicators, including surveys of children and other groups from the National Dental Epidemiology Programme for England, and National Health Service activity measures.

Sodium Valproate and Surgical Mesh Implants

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Patient Safety Commissioner's report entitled The Hughes Report: Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published on 7 February 2024.

Maria Caulfield: The Government commissioned the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC) to produce a report on redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. We are grateful to the PSC and her team for completing this report and our sympathies remain with those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. The Government is now carefully considering the PSC’s recommendations and will respond substantively in due course.

Mental Health Services: Veterans

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of existing mental health support for veterans who are suffering from PTSD.

Maria Caulfield: The National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) is part of the Government’s New Hospital Programme, with construction starting in 2023. This new 70-bed facility will benefit all patients including veterans by bringing together patient care, research, innovation, and training and education under one roof.In addition, Op RESTORE has been commissioned by NHS England to act as a comprehensive veterans’ mental and physical health and wellbeing service. It supports individuals who have served in, or are leaving, the British Armed Forces and who have physical health injuries and related medical problems attributed to their time in the Armed Forces. Additionally, in April 2023, a new integrated Op COURAGE service launched which includes access to dedicated support for those presenting with substance misuse and other addictions such as gambling. Access to Op COURAGE is via referral or by direct contact from veterans, with a campaign to raise awareness of Op COURAGE having been launched on 9 January 2024.The Government is providing an additional £10 million to support the Veterans’ Places, People and Pathways Programme to increase support to a significant community of vulnerable veterans throughout the United Kingdom, and to enable it to become self-sustaining.The Government has not made any assessment of the adequacy of existing rehabilitative care for injured veterans, existing treatment services for veterans with alcohol and drug dependency or existing mental health support for veterans who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.The Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Office for Veterans' Affairs engage with Five Eyes international partners to share best practice on research and policy delivery. This engagement covers a wide range of issues relating to veterans including physical health. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has not had additional engagement with international partners on rehabilitative care for veterans.

Lisdexamfetamine

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure supplies of lisdexamfetamine capsules.

Andrew Stephenson: We are aware of the supply issues affecting medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This is a global issue and other markets are also affected. We can confirm that the intermittent supply disruptions affecting lisdexamfetamine capsules are expected to be largely resolved by April or May 2024. We have issued communications to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on the management of patients whilst there continues to be disruption to supplies, including issuing a National Patient Safety Alert in September 2023 and a further Medicine Supply Notification in February 2024. We have also added ADHD products to the list of medicines that cannot be exported from, or hoarded in, the United Kingdom, to protect domestic supplies. We have also published a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service website, which is regularly updated to ensure that those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of medications can make informed decisions. If any patient is concerned about their treatment, they should discuss this with their clinician at the earliest opportunity.

Breast Cancer: Medical Treatments

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies on the treatment of lobular breast cancer of the Institute of Cancer Research's Lobular Moonshot Project.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is committed to supporting patient access to promising and innovative new treatments, including treatments for lobular breast cancer. Research is crucial in the fight against cancer, and in developing tailored treatments for lobular breast cancer specifically. That is why the Department invests in health and care research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which had a research expenditure of over £121.8 million for all cancers for 2022/23.The Lobular Moonshot Project is a high-level request for research fellowships and projects in lobular breast cancer, to be funded by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). In 2022 the NIHR awarded £29 million to the ICR and its partner, the Royal Marsden, through the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres competition. This award includes work on lobular breast cancer. The NIHR encourages research proposals in lobular breast cancer to compete for its health and care research funding. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition with awards being made on the basis of value for money and scientific quality.

Spinal Injuries: Continuing Care

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of applications for NHS continuing healthcare received in each of the last two years came from patients who became tetraplegic as a result of a spinal injury; how many and what proportion of those applications were granted; and if she will provide a breakdown of those figures by integrated care board area.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of applications for NHS continuing healthcare received in each of the last two years came from patients with autonomic dysreflexia; how many and what proportion of those applications were granted; and if she will provide a breakdown of those figures by integrated care board area.

Helen Whately: Data is not collected on the specific medical conditions of people who apply for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). Eligibility for CHC is not determined by age, diagnosis or condition, or financial means. It is assessed on a case-by-case basis taking into account the totality of an individual’s needs, including ways in which these needs interact with one another.

Department of Health and Social Care: Visits Abroad

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's data entitled Ministerial travel, July to September 2023, how much of the £6,487.91 spent on the visit by the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care to New York from 19 to 22 September 2023 were for flights.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department had discussions with the Cabinet Office on the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care sharing the RAF plane used by the Deputy Prime Minister to visit New York on 19 September 2023.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government publishes on GOV.UK details of the total cost of overseas Ministerial travel, including costs of travel, and on other costs including visas, accommodation, and meals.As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers’ travel at home or abroad, nor details of those accompanying them.

Medical Equipment

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) terms of reference, (b) objectives and (c) deliverable measures are for NHS England’s Device Steering Group for the next 12 months.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Greater London

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to work with (a) local authorities and (b) schools to (i) promote inclusion in schools and (ii) help ensure the adequacy of funding for SEND provision in London schools; and if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of access to mainstream school places for children in London with SEND.

David Johnston: In the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department set out a vision for an inclusive system characterised by high-quality mainstream provision where children and young people have their needs identified early and can access prompt, evidence-based, targeted support. The department is working with local authorities to create or strengthen local SEND and AP partnerships to bring together local authorities, health and education partners across local systems to strategically plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND. To support local authorities, the department is investing £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists and introducing a National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for special educational needs coordinators at leadership level.​Schools and Multi-Academy Trust leaders should promote collaborative working and drive inclusive practices across local areas. The department’s expectations for high-quality, inclusive education are set out in the High-Quality Trust Framework and enforced through the inspections under Ofsted’s 2019 education inspection framework The department is also investing in specific programmes designed to help schools develop their inclusive practice. For example, the Universal Services programme helps the schools and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, earlier and more effectively. As part of the programme, over 135,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training. And to support schools to create calm, safe and supportive environments for all pupils, the department has also invested £10 million in the Behaviour Hubs programme. No pupil should miss out on education because of concerns to safety, disruptions to lessons or if pupils’ needs are not identified and supported. Mainstream schools in London are to be allocated £7.48 billion in 2024/25, a cash increase of 1.6% per pupil compared to 2023/24, and an increase of 12.5% per pupil over the Spending Review period compared to 2021/22. For any cost of special educational needs support which is more than £6,000 per pupil, schools can access local authorities’ high needs budgets. Local authorities in London have been allocated high needs funding amounting to £1.9 billion in 2023/24. This is set to increase to £2 billion in 2024/25, which equates to a cumulative increase of 29% per head through the National Funding Formula over the three years since 2021/22 allocations. Within that London total, the London Borough of Lewisham’s allocation of high needs funding in 2024/25 is over £79 million, which is a cumulative increase of 27% since their 2021/22 allocations. Across England, by 2024/25 high needs funding will have increased by 60% over the five years since 2019/20 to a total of over £10.5 billion. The department has published over £1.5 billion of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years, of which local authorities in London have been allocated £325 million. This funding is allocated to support local authorities deliver new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND or who require AP. Local authorities can use it to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings. This forms part of the department’s transformational investment of £2.6 billion in new high needs provision between 2022 and 2025 and is on top of its ongoing delivery of new special and AP free schools.

Department for Education: Domicil

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any non-executive directors employed in her Department are non-domiciled as of 19 February 2024.

Damian Hinds: Non-executives' personal data, including those relating to personal taxation or status, are protected by the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Personal data on non-domicile status is not routinely collected and is generally not required for making public appointments. If any such data was held by the department it could only be published if doing so was in compliance with data protection law.Non-executive board members are not employees of the department and act in an advisory capacity.Data relating to public appointments are covered by the Public Appointments Privacy Statement, which, which is available at: https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/privacy.

Schools: Construction

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent estimate of the average length of time that schools constructed with high alumina cement are viable for.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the schools constructed using high alumina cement; how many and what proportion of those schools were constructed with that material; and what the average life span of buildings using that material is.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools constructed with high alumina cement there are in each local authority.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools were constructed with high alumina cement in each local authority which are no longer viable.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools constructed with high alumina cement have been provided capital funding in the last (a) 12 months, (b) two years, (c) five years, (d) 10 years and (e) 14 years.

Damian Hinds: Academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies are responsible for collecting and recording information about their buildings and ensuring they are safe, well-maintained and comply with relevant regulations. The department supports schools and colleges on how this should be done in the Good Estate Management for Schools guidance which is available at GOV.UK.When the department is made aware of a significant issue with a building that cannot be managed locally, additional support is provided on a case-by-case basis.As for all construction materials, the lifespan of any elements containing high alumina cement depend on their maintenance history and use. The department does not hold a central register of construction types used in the education estate.The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year, informed by consistent data on the school estate. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme will transform poor condition buildings at over 500 schools across England.

Education: Autism

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential (a) impact of National Autistic Society Cullum Centres on students with autism in mainstream schools and (b) merits of implementing similar provision based on the Callum Model in schools.

David Johnston: The department works closely with the National Autistic Society (NAS) and is aware of the Cullum Centres and the evaluation currently being undertaken by Goldsmiths, University of London, but has made no assessments of the Centres to date. The department engages regularly with NAS and other autism stakeholders to understand the issues faced by autistic children and young people and to understand possible solutions. The department supports local authorities to provide sufficient school places for all children, including autistic children, through capital funding. The department has published over £1.5 billion of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding is allocated to local authorities to support them to deliver new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with autism, or who require alternative provision (AP). This funding forms part of our transformational investment of £2.6 billion in new high needs provision between 2022 and 2025 and is on top of the department’s ongoing delivery of new special and AP free schools. Reaching over 70% of schools and further education (FE) colleges, the Universal Services programme helps the school and FE workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively. The programme will also help the schools to successfully prepare children and young people for adulthood, including employment. Universal offers online training, professional development groups, bespoke school and college improvement projects, sector-led research, autism awareness training and an embedded focus on preparation for adulthood, including employer-led webinars for college staff. The programme commenced in May 2022 and runs until Spring 2025, with a budget of nearly £12 million. The department has begun collecting data from local authorities on available capacity in special schools, SEND units and resourced provision, along with corresponding forecasts of demand for these places. This data will help the department to effectively support local authorities to fulfil their statutory duty to provide sufficient specialist places.

Autism: Education

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing national guidance on how to adapt school environments to support the needs of students with autism.

David Johnston: I refer the hon. Member for Wigan to the answer of 12 February 2024 to Question 11638.

Autism: Education

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of training on autism received by (a) teachers and (b) education staff in schools.

David Johnston: The department is committed to ensuring that all pupils, including those with autism, can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers. Consideration of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) underpins both the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career Framework (ECF). These frameworks set out for new teachers the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching.To identify opportunities to build teacher expertise, the department reviewed the CCF alongside the ECF during 2023. This review combined a review of the framework content, underpinning evidence with evaluation data, lessons learned from the first years of implementation, and extensive expert and sector feedback including from SEND specialists. This included a public call for evidence. Following this review, the updated and combined Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework was published on 30 January 2024, for delivery from September 2025. The framework is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-and-early-career-framework.To support education staff at any stage in their career, the Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific training and support for staff working in schools and further education. It aims to improve outcomes for children and young people through one programme which reaches 70% of schools and colleges in England per year. The contract offers autism awareness training and resources, which align with the national all-age autism strategy and shares the strategy’s ambition to improve autistic children and young people’s access to education and support positive transitions into adulthood. The strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026. Over 135,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training since the Universal Services programme began in May 2022.More broadly, the 2023 SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan outlines the department’s vision to improve mainstream education by setting standards for the early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The plan is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-and-alternative-provision-improvement-plan. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and practitioner standards will be developed to support frontline professionals to deliver this support. The first three practitioner standards will be published by the end of 2025 and will include one on supporting autistic children and young people.

National Send and Alternative Provision Implementation Board

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what changes have been made to the membership of the national SEND and Alternative Provision Implementation Board since that board was announced.

David Johnston: Since the National Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Implementation Board was established on 6 June 2023, there have been two changes to membership. I replaced the former Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, my right hon. Friend, Claire Coutinho. Amanda Allard, Director of the Council for Disabled Children, has also replaced her predecessor, Dame Christine Lenehan. Information about the Board is available on GOV.UK and is being updated to reflect these changes.

Special Educational Needs

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 23 October 2023 to Question 201458, what recent progress her Department has made on reviewing the (a) role and (b) transparency of special educational needs and disabilities information reports.

David Johnston: The requirement for all schools to publish special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Information Reports was introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014. This means that every school must publish details of its provision for pupils with SEND and review these details annually. The department is exploring whether the role of SEND Information Reports, and their transparency, could be developed further as part of the implementation of the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan.

Ministry of Defence

Military Aircraft

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what purpose the RAF helicopter GZ100 was flown under the call-sign RRR1325 on 9 February 2024 (a) from RAF Northolt to Plymouth between 7.00am and 9.00am, (b) on multiple movements around Devon between 9.00am and 3.30pm and (c) from Plymouth to RAF Northolt between 3.30pm and 5.00pm; how many (i) civil servants, (ii) special advisers, (iii) ministers and (iv) other VIPs were passengers on the aircraft over the course of that day; and what total mileage was recorded by the aircraft on that day.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Helicopter GZ100, which is part of the Command Support Air Transport fleet, performed a defence tasking on 9 February 2024, travelling between Defence locations within the Southwest. Measurement of military aviation is primarily through recorded flight hours. While we do not record exact track miles flown by military aircraft, the rough total straight line round trip distance between those Defence locations was some 240 nautical miles.Regarding passengers, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to PQ7873 from 15 of January 2024; “It has been the practice of successive Administrations not to publish granular information relating to the official movements of protected individuals, and/or official travel by any individual to military or secure locations”.

Home Office

Drugs: Organised Crime

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any county lines reported as closed in 2023 have re-opened as of 7 February 2024.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times the County Lines Task and Finish Group met in each calendar year since it was established.

Chris Philp: This Government is determined to crack down on county lines gangs which is why we are investing up to £145m over three years in our County Lines Programme to tackle the most violent and exploitative distribution model yet seen.Since the Programme was launched in 2019, police activity has resulted in over 5,100 line closures, 15,600 arrests and 8,000 safeguarding referrals. This includes over 2,100 line closures by the Programme taskforces since April 2022, meeting the HMG Drugs Strategy commitment of closing over 2,000 by April 2025 in half the time.The National County Lines Co-ordination Centre determines a line to be closed where there is evidence that the controlling gang is no longer capable of distributing drugs using that telephone number, with check backs to ensure the telephone number remains out of use.Delivery of the County Lines Programme is overseen by the County Lines Task and Finish Group, which meets regularly to drive forward progress, monitor the impact of the funding, and identify challenges. The Task and Finish Group was established by the Home Office in October 2019 and has met 47 times to date.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will (a) make an assessment of the potential impact of the provisions in the Licensing Act 2003 on levels of alcohol harm and (b) take steps to accordingly amend provisions in that Act to reduce alcohol harm.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the restrictions on licensing hours for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to provide local government licensing committees with the power to turn down new licensing applications if police evidence demonstrates the potential risk to (a) policing, (b) public safety and (c) public health.

Chris Philp: The Licensing Act 2003 provides a clear and effective legislative framework to regulate licensable activities, including the sale and supply of alcohol.The Act strikes a balance between providing safeguards in the licensing system to promote public safety, prevent crime and disorder and ensure the responsible consumption of alcohol, while recognising the contribution licensed premises make to thriving night-time economies.The Act already gives licensing authorities the power to make decisions regarding licensed opening hours as part of the implementation of their licensing policy statements. Licensing authorities are best placed to make such decisions based on their local knowledge and in consultation with other responsible authorities, including the police.There are already mechanisms in place for police, as responsible authorities, to make representations to the licensing authority in relation to the application for the grant, variation or review of a licence should they have concerns relating to public safety.We keep the Act under review and work closely with licensing practitioners to ensure the regime remains fit for purpose. We also regularly update the statutory guidance that is provided to licensing authorities to assist them in carrying out their functions under the Act.

Police: Urdu

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much police forces in England and Wales have spent on translation services for English to Urdu in the last five years.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much police forces have spent on English to Polish translation services in each of the last five years.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much police forces have spent on English to Arabic translation services in each of the last five years.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much police forces have spent on translation services from English to Panjabi in the last five years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold information relating to the proportion of budgets spent on translation services for police forces.Decisions on how to use funding and resources are an operational matter for Chief Constables. Police and Crime Commissioners are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.

Asylum: Deportation

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 193 of his Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, published on 11 September 2023, how many scheduled flights intended to return those who no longer have the right to remain in the United Kingdom were cancelled; and for what reason each one was cancelled.

Michael Tomlinson: We do not routinely publish the information you have requested, we are unable to provide this information, as it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Burglary: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help tackle burglaries in (a) Cardiff Central constituency, (b) Cardiff local authority area and (c) Wales.

Chris Philp: The Crime Survey for England and Wales data shows a 56% fall in domestic burglaries when comparing the year ending September 2023 with year ending March 2010. This is clearly good news; however, we recognise the impact domestic burglary can have on individuals and communities and we are committed to tackling and preventing this crime.The public rightly expects that the police will visit them when a home burglary has been committed, which is why we welcome the announcement made by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) on 8 June that all 43 police forces in England and Wales have been implementing this attendance policy since March 2023. We are working with police leaders to ensure forces are making their attendance data available to the public. https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/police-now-attending-scene-of-every-home-burglary.The police commitment to attend home burglaries is supported by specific College of Policing good practice guidance on conducting residential burglary investigations: https://www.college.police.uk/guidance/residential-burglary.Police forces across England and Wales have also committed to pursue all lines of enquiry where there is a reasonable chance it could lead to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pursuing-all-reasonable-lines-of-enquiry-letter-to-police-leaders/pursuing-all-reasonable-lines-of-enquiry-letter-to-police-leadersTo help ensure the police have the resources they need to fight crime and tackle anti-social behaviour, we have delivered on our commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers by the end of March 2023. There are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, higher than the previous peak in March 2010, and as of 30 September, South Wales had 3,535 police officers, a total growth of 540 additional officers since the start of the Police Uplift Programme.

Cannabis: Crimes of Violence

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has commissioned research to assess potential links between cannabis misuse and violent crime.

Chris Philp: The Home Office commissioned Dame Carol Black in 2019 to undertake a 2-part independent review of drugs, which informed the government’s 10 year Drug Strategy. The review included information on different illegal drugs, including cannabis markets and links to exploitation and violence. The evidence pack is published at: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/882953/Review_of_Drugs_Evidence_Pack.pdf.In this review it was found that the available data indicates that cannabis markets, while associated with violence, are less closely linked to violence than the markets for heroin/crack and powder cocaine.Further analysis undertaken by the Home Office was conducted on the risk factors for behaviours related to serious violence, which is published here and includes an assessment of drug use as a risk factor:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/819840/analysis-of-indicators-of-serious-violence-horr110.pdf

Asylum: Afghanistan

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of migrants who have had their claims for asylum rejected have been returned to Afghanistan in each of the last 10 years.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on returns, by destination and year, are published in table Ret_D02 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the end of September 2023. The data is not broken down by asylum-related status.Additionally, the Home Office publishes data on asylum outcomes in the same release. Data on asylum refusals by nationality and year of decision are published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum and resettlement detailed tables’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the end of September 2023. The data do not include information about returns.

Asylum

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Consideration of inadmissibility claims under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership, published on 14 February 2024, how many and what proportion of individuals who arrived in the UK on or after 1 January 2022 that received a notice of intent prior to 29 June 2023 remain in scope for removal to Rwanda as of 19 February 2024; and what the cost to the public purse has been of providing asylum accommodations to those individuals in that period.

Michael Tomlinson: The Home Office publishes data on asylum and resettlement quarterly in the Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data on cases considered under inadmissibility rules can be found in table Asy_09a of the asylum and resettlement summary tables.A breakdown of proposed removal destinations provided to those receiving a Notice of Intent is not currently available.

Proscribed Organisations

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which organisations have been removed from the proscribed list since 2015.

Tom Tugendhat: Information on proscription, including deproscription, is available on GOV.UK.Since 2015, three organisations have been deproscribed. The International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) was removed from the list of proscribed groups in March 2016, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) was removed in December 2017 and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) was removed in November 2019. All were removed following receipt of an application to deproscribe.

National Crime Agency: Staff

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost of (a) hiring and (b) training a new National Crime Agency officer was in 2023.

Chris Philp: The NCA does not routinely capture generalised costs to hire and train NCA officers.This is due to the variety of roles in the Agency, specialised training and individual vetting requirements.

Police: Recruitment and Training

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost of (a) hiring and (b) training a new (i) police officer, (ii) police community support officer and (iii) special constable was as of 12 February 2024.

Chris Philp: The Government delivered its commitment to deliver 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023. There are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, higher than the previous peak before the Police Uplift Programme, in March 2010.The Government is determined to ensure that the police have the resources they need. Compared with 2019-20, there has been a total settlement increase of up to 30.7% in cash terms, which enabled the recruitment of 20,000 additional officers nationally.Decisions about police recruitment, including how recruitment and selection processes are run, are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners and are therefore managed locally by forces. This is done within a national application, assessment and selection framework, in line with national guidance maintained by the College of Policing.It would be for individual forces to provide localised data regarding the costs of training and hiring police officers, police community support officers and special constables.

Knives: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help tackle knife crime in (a) Cardiff Central constituency, (b) Cardiff local authority area and (c) Wales.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help reduce violent assaults in (a) Cardiff Central constituency, (b) Cardiff local authority area and (c) Wales.

Chris Philp: Since 2019, the Home Office has provided over £5 million of funding for a Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in South Wales (known as the Wales Violence Prevention Unit) (including c£1m in 2023/24) which is providing a multi-agency, preventative response designed to tackle the drivers of serious violence and knife crime in South Wales. In addition, we have invested c.£3.5m (including c.£535k in 2023/24) in ‘hotspot policing’ to boost the policing response to serious violence in South Wales and provide high-visibility police patrols and problem-solving tactics in the streets and neighbourhoods most affected.The VPU is tasked with investing in evidence-based approaches designed to steer vulnerable young people away from involvement in violence. As part of this approach, the VPU is funding local interventions in Cardiff including A&E Navigators, delivering advice, support and guidance to patients of any age who have experienced violence with injury, with the aim of engaging with those injured whilst they are in hospital to help break the cycle of violence at the point of crisis. Alongside this, the policing hot spot response programme is targeting key locations in Cardiff and Swansea with a dedicated proactive team conducting additional visible patrols and undertaking activity to target individuals within hotspots as well as providing additional support to teams working to police the night-time economy.Additionally, just under £1m has been awarded in 2023/24 to support delivery of the Serious Violence Duty across Wales.The government is also taking forward a programme to strengthen the controls and legislation on knives. A Statutory Instrument was laid in Parliament on 25 January 2024 to ban zombie style knives and machetes. Subject to the relevant legislation being approved by Parliament, a surrender and compensation scheme will be launched in August to remove zombie style knives and machetes from circulation and ownership, and once the scheme ends on 23 September, the manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes will be outlawed from 24 September 2024.Additionally, through the Criminal Justice Bill , which is currently progressing through Parliament, we are providing more powers for police to seize knives held in private that they believe will be used for unlawful violence, increasing the maximum penalty for the offences of selling prohibited weapons and selling knives to under 18s, and creating a new offence of possessing an article with blade or point or an offensive weapon with intent to commit unlawful violence.

Deportation

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report by the National Audit Office entitled Investigation into the response to cheating in English language tests, published on 24 May 2019, HC 2144, what the countries of origin were of people subject to enforced removals from the UK following an accusation of cheating in the Test of English for International Communication.

Tom Pursglove: The closest published data, on the nationalities of those who took ETS tests, is provided at: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/70089/html/.At Point 109 (Annex D) is the closest match to the information requested.The Home Office MP Account Management Team will contact you separately to discuss this request.

Visas: Skilled Workers

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department plans to publish an equality impact assessment on the changes to visa salary thresholds announced in December 2023.

Tom Pursglove: A full Regulatory Impact Assessment on these changes will be developed and the Government will publish an Equality Impact Assessment on this change, both in due course.

Asylum

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims are subject to third party enquiries as of 8 February 2024.

Tom Pursglove: This information is not held in a reportable format. Some cases are more complex than others and require further investigation or matters that are outside of our control to be resolved. For example, some claimants have pending prosecutions which, if convicted, could lead to their asylum claim being refused and deportation action taken. The Government’s view is that it is preferable not to consider asylum claims (and leave to remain) until a criminal prosecution case is completed. The timetable for action in this scenario is dependent on the police or the courts, whose timings are rightly operationally independent of ministers. It is not possible to give an accurate answer for when they will be cleared, but we undertake regular reviews and will resolve these cases as soon as possible once the reason we cannot progress a claim is lifted.

Visas: Uzbekistan

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many student visas were issued to Uzbekistan nationals in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of study visas granted by nationality, are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance visas applications and outcomes detailed dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is up to, and including, 2023 Q3 (July to September). Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Asylum: Temporary Accommodation

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if his Department will take steps to halt evictions from temporary asylum accommodation for the full duration that a severe weather emergency protocol is active.

Tom Pursglove: It has been agreed that the eviction or move on from asylum accommodation will pause for up to, but no more than three days, when Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) is activated by a local authority and an individual does not have a housing offer from elsewhere.The Home Office is working to ensure that individuals are offered support from Migrant Help or their partner organisation when they receive a decision on their asylum claim. This support includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing.

Police: Suicide

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to classify police officer suicide as a work-related accident.

Chris Philp: This Government takes the mental health of the police workforce very seriously and we are committed to making improvements in wellbeing support for officers and staff.Through the Police Covenant, we continue to work with policing partners to ensure those who work in policing and their families get the support and protection they need. We have already delivered pre-deployment mental health support for all new starters and established a Chief Medical Officer for policing.Suicide is a particularly sensitive and difficult issue and usually involves a combination of many factors, which means that it is not straightforward to classify by default as a work-related incident. There is an existing system in which deaths are examined by a Coroner and a Coroner can already refer cases to the Health and Safety Executive, or other public body, if they consider there is an ongoing risk to others.Any suicide is devastating and that is why, through the Police Covenant, we have developed a priority work stream on suicide prevention. The Home Office is also providing funding to establish and run the first year of a 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Support line for current and former members of the police workforce.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Gaza: Israel

Chris Law: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on Israeli military action in Rafah.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As the Prime Minister has told Prime Minister Netanyahu and regional leaders, we are deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah. Over half of Gaza's population are sheltering in the area, and the Rafah crossing is vital to ensure aid can reach the people who so desperately need it.The immediate priority must be a humanitarian pause in the fighting, which is the best route to secure the safe release of hostages and significantly step up the aid reaching Gaza. We want that pause to lead to a sustainable ceasefire without a return to further fighting.That remains the focus of all our diplomatic effort.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which five projects have been allocated the largest amount of staff time by his Department's Projects Task Force in financial year 2023-24 to date, as of 19 February 2024.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Projects Task Force (PTF) typically provides small teams on a short-term basis to support FCDO priority work. The following five projects have been allocated the largest amount of staff time in financial year 2023-24: the Wilton Park Public Body Review; the AI Safety Summit; the launch of the Agriculture Breakthrough at COP28; the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference; and a review of FCDO Scholarship Programmes.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Oliver Wyman

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to his Department's contract with Oliver Wyman Ltd of 4 September 2023, tender reference 349331/1281857, which five projects have been allocated the largest amount of consultancy support since the initiation of that contract as of 19 February 2024.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: As of 20 February 2024, Oliver Wyman Ltd has provided support to two projects under the contract of 4 September 2023. This was for consultancy support to review FCDO scholarship programmes and the pilot of a new contact management system.

Red Sea: Piracy

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the impact of disruption to merchant shipping in the Red Sea on food security and stability in the Horn of Africa.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Houthi's attacks in the Red Sea are putting innocent lives at risk, threatening the global economy, and destabilising the region. Risks to food security and price increases are higher in the region, especially in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Lebanon, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen.The Government is working closely with shipping operators to mitigate any potential impact on consumers.The UK is committed to ensuring freedom of navigation and trade.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many full time equivalent staff were employed in his Department's Projects Task Force as of 1 January 2024; what annual budget was allocated by his Department to the work of that Task Force in the financial year 2023-24; and how much of that budget has been allocated to employing (a) in-house staff and (b) external consultants in the financial year to date.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Projects Task Force (PTF) provides short-term project-based support to FCDO priority work. The PTF had 39.5 full time equivalent FCDO staff on 1 January 2024. In the financial year 2023-24, Projects Task Force was allocated a budget of £4,785,000. As of 20 February 2024, £2,088,589 has been allocated to in-house staff and £474,600 including VAT to external consultants.

Jimmy Lai

Neil Coyle: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he had discussions with his Chinese counterpart on the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai at the Munich Security Conference in February 2024.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he had discussions with his Chinese counterpart on the protection of people from Hong Kong who are in the UK from repression and intimidation during the Munich Security Conference in February 2024.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: On 16 February the Foreign Secretary met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference. In line with the Government's "protect, align, and engage" approach to China, the Foreign Secretary raised a number of issues important to the UK national interest. The Foreign Secretary reiterated his call for the release of British national Jimmy Lai and unambiguously set out the UK's position across a number of areas of disagreement, including on Hong Kong. We have been clear that we will not tolerate any attempts to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: British Virgin Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's recent visit to the British Virgin Islands.

David Rutley: I [Minister Rutley] visited the British Virgin Islands (BVI) from 4-6 February. I met the Premier and members of the BVI government to discuss delivery of vital governance reforms. I was clear that reform must be the priority for the BVI government and the Premier has since reiterated this in public statements. During the visit, the Premier gave a commitment to delivering against reforms deadlines and producing an Action Plan to get the process back on track.I also met the Commissioner of Police to discuss security challenges faced by the BVI and the provision of UK support to tackle serious organised crime.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Montserrat

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many officials from his Department are stationed in Montserrat.

David Rutley: There are fewer than ten country-based staff stationed in Montserrat.

Sudan: Armed Conflict

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will seek assurances from his (a) UAE and (b) other international counterparts that they are not providing (i) military and (ii) logistical support to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK condemns any actions that further fuel the brutal conflict in Sudan. We continue to place emphasis in our engagements with international partners on the importance of neutrality and of supporting a ceasefire and civilian political transition. The UK expects all countries to comply with existing UN sanctions and continues to work closely with partners in the UN Security Council to enforce these.

Ethiopia: Food

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of food shortages in Ethiopia.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: ood shortages in Ethiopia are at a critical level. Conflict and climate change have crippled crop production and driven people off their lands. The combination of conflict and failed harvests in northern Ethiopia have plunged over 3 million into a state of critical food insecurity. Millions more people are in need, with women and young children severely affected. I announced £100 million of new aid during my recent visit, which will support over three million vulnerable people across Ethiopia.

Ukraine: Prisoners of War

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports that Russian soldiers have executed Ukrainian prisoners of war in Avdiivka.

Leo Docherty: We are appalled by the reports of prisoners of war, protected under the Geneva Conventions, being executed in Avdiivka. Summary execution is a war crime. We note that the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has opened an investigation into these allegations. We are committed to hold to account those responsible for committing atrocities in Ukraine. In December 2023, the FCDO announced £3.7 million to support the investigation and prosecution of war crimes committed in Ukraine. This includes funding for the training of Ukrainian prosecutors in the use of open-source intelligence and the expansion of the OPORA War Crimes Documentation Centre in Poland.

Black Sea: Shipping

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the disruption to shipping from Ukraine via the Black Sea on the volume of exports of (a) fertiliser and (b) energy.

Leo Docherty: As a result of Ukrainian resilience and innovation, as well as our support and that of international partners, over 19 million tonnes of cargo have been exported through the Black Sea since September 2023. These are the highest levels since the war began, which is a remarkable achievement.According to the Ukrainian government, over 70 per cent of this cargo has been agricultural produce and much of the rest has been metallurgy and iron ore products. Ukraine is seeking to expand on this success and ensure as many goods as possible move safely through the Black Sea.

Voting Rights: EU Nationals

Kim Johnson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what progress he has made in discussions with his counterparts in EU states on bilateral voting rights to ensure that EU citizens who arrive in the UK after 2021 can vote in local elections after May 2024.

Leo Docherty: In December 2018, the UK wrote to all 27 EU Member States signalling our willingness to enter into bilateral agreements to ensure continuity of local election voting and candidacy rights for each other's citizens. Since 2018, we have entered into five bilateral agreements, these are: Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Poland and very recently Denmark, which is subject to Parliamentary ratification. The existence of constitutional barriers in some Member States has prevented the UK from entering into agreements with certain Member States. However, the UK remains open to negotiating fully reciprocal bilateral agreements where EU Member States are interested in doing so.

British Residents' Society of North Cyprus

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, on how many occasions the British High Commissioner to Cyprus has held discussions with the British Residents Society in Northern Cyprus since his appointment in August 2022; and if he will publish unredacted minutes of those discussions.

Leo Docherty: The British High Commissioner to Cyprus held a town-hall meeting with the British Residents' Society in the north of Cyprus as a group in June 2023. This is in addition to a meeting with the society's leadership in April 2023 and a meeting scheduled with the society's chair on 28 February 2024. The British High Commission does not produce public minutes of such meetings.

British Virgin Islands: Drugs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, steps his Department is taking to support the tackling of illegal drug smuggling in the British Virgin Islands.

David Rutley: Since 2018 the UK has provided approximately £10 million of security related support to the British Virgin Islands (BVI).This includes equipment and training for the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) Marine Unit including four new Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boats, which have since been involved in seizures of large quantities of illegal drugs.In addition, we have provided equipment, training and technical assistance for the RVIPF including funding repairs and upgrades to the Police Station and training for officers at the RVIPF INTERPOL Sub Bureau.The FCDO is also providing direct funding for two security focused recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry - a review of BVI's law enforcement and justice agencies, and the development of vetting policies and procedures for law enforcement officers. The implementation of these recommendations will significantly increase the ability of law enforcement agencies on the Territory to tackle serious organised crime.

Panama Canal

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of trends in water levels in the Panama Canal on international trade.

David Rutley: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) are closely monitoring the Panama Canal situation. Nusrat Ghani, Minister for Economic Security, discussed the challenges of the Canal with the CEO of the Panama Canal on 16 February, including ongoing plans to tackle the situation. British industry are keen to be part of the long term solution.

Panama Canal

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of water levels in the Panama Canal on international food security.

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of water levels in the Panama Canal on the passage of food supplies by shipping.

David Rutley: The FCDO, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) are closely monitoring the Panama Canal situation. DEFRA will publish the next version of the UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) later this year, which will include analysis of the trends of price inflation, international commodity prices, and energy and fertiliser prices in the context of UK food. Nusrat Ghani, Minister for Economic Security, discussed the challenges of the Canal with the CEO of the Panama Canal on 16 February, including ongoing plans to tackle the situation. British industry are keen to be part of the long term solution.

Mansour Shouman

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his Canadian counterparts on the rescue of Mansour Shouman.

David Rutley: The UK and Canada are close partners and friends. Ministers speak regularly to discuss international issues, including the wider conflict between Israel and Hamas. FCDO Ministers have not held discussions with Canadian counterparts regarding Mansour Shouman.

Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office: Demonstrations

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to take steps to clean the red paint on his Department's building in King Charles Street; if he will make an estimate of the cost of such cleaning; and whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that protesters cannot do it again.

David Rutley: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Main building in Whitehall has been subject to two significant paint protests in the past 12 months. As the building is Grade 1 listed, we must initially attempt paint removal with low impact measures, such as steam cleaning. If we subsequently need to use chemical-based options, we must first obtain permission from Westminster City Council and Historic England. As the current removal works have not concluded we cannot give a firm estimate of costs at this stage. Our security posture remains under constant review.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Students

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending eligibility for Universal Credit to higher education students affected by domestic abuse.

Jo Churchill: No assessment has been made.

Jobcentre Plus: Refugees

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps Jobcentre Plus takes to ensure that people with refugee status are recorded as such in its systems.

Mims Davies: DWP takes account of whether a claimant has refugee status when assessing their eligibility to claim benefits. In Universal Credit agents can also record relevant information on a claimant’s profile to ensure they receive individualised tailored support, this could include that they are a refugee.

Employment and Support Allowance

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which companies (a) were involved in designing and (b) are involved in maintaining the technology programmes used to manage (i) the Employment and Support Allowance, (ii) the transition from Incapacity Benefit to the Employment and Support Allowance and (iii) National Insurance credits for Employment and Support Allowance claimants.

Paul Maynard: The following companies were involved alongside DWP in the design and maintenance of (i) Employment and Support Allowance, (ii) the transition from Incapacity Benefit to the Employment and Support Allowance and (iii) National Insurance credits for Employment and Support. The Employment and Support allowance (ESA) service was initially designed by Electronic Data Systems (EDS) who later became Hewlett Packard Enterprise Systems (HPES) in August 2008, working with DWP to implement it. HPES continued to maintain and support ESA until 2016 when the Government company BPDTS Ltd (Benefits and Pensions Digital Technology Services) was established to provide digital technology services to the DWP. The Company’s employees were public servants who provided a full range of digital technology services to DWP. BPDTS was formally classified as a non-departmental public body. BPDTS colleagues were subsequently transferred into DWP in 2021. The ESA benefit is now developed and maintained by an in-house DWP team.

Attendance Allowance: Motability

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of including a mobility element in Attendance Allowance that enables access to the Motability scheme.

Paul Maynard: Attendance Allowance is intended to help those with a severe disability who have long term care or supervision needs which arise after reaching State Pension age. It has never included a mobility component, and so cannot be used in payment for a leased Motability scheme vehicle. Government mobility support is focused on people who are disabled earlier in life; developing mobility needs in older life is a normal consequence of ageing, which non-disabled younger people have had opportunity to plan and save for. There is no constraint on what an award of Attendance Allowance can be spent on, and a recipient may choose to use this benefit to fund mobility aids. In Scotland, Attendance Allowance is devolved to the Scottish Parliament, and will be replaced in due course.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Domicil

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Attorney General, whether any non-executive directors in her Department are non-domiciled as of 19 February 2024.

Robert Courts: The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) does not have any appointed non-executive directors (NEDs).However, the Crown Prosecution Service, Serious Fraud Office, and Government Legal Department, which are superintended by the Law Officers, do have appointed NEDs.NEDs are not employees of the AGO, nor the above departments superintended by the Law Officers, and act in an advisory capacity. NEDs’ personal data, including those relating to personal taxation or status, are protected by the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Collection of personal data on non-dom status is not routinely collected and is generally not required for making public appointments. If any such data was held it could only be published if doing so was in compliance with data protection law.Data relating to public appointments are covered by the Public Appointments Privacy Statement found here: https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/privacy.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Contracts

Stella Creasy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance he has issued to Government departments on acceptable levels of profit for Government contracts; and whether he monitors compliance with that guidance.

Alex Burghart: The Sourcing Playbook provides best practice guidance for government contracting. It sets out that suppliers should expect a fair return for the goods and services they provide. The Sourcing Playbook does not set out target profit margins as this is dependent on a range of factors, including market competitiveness and the level of risk transfer. Contracting authorities are responsible for ensuring they maximise value for money from their contracts.

Cabinet Office: Domicil

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any non-executive directors employed in his Department are non-domiciled as of 19 February 2024.

John Glen: Non executive board members are not employees of the Cabinet Office and act in an advisory capacity. Non-executive’s personal data, including those relating to personal taxation or status, are protected by the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Collection of personal data on non-dom status is not routinely collected and is generally not required for making public appointments. If any such data was held it could only be published if doing so was in compliance with data protection law.Data relating to public appointments are covered by the Public Appointments Privacy Statement found here https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/privacy.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Nitrogen Dioxide: Greater London

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide in London boroughs where levels have exceeded legal limits.

Robbie Moore: The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in London and has devolved powers under the Environment Act 1995 allowing him to require London boroughs to take action to address local air pollution. It is the Mayor’s responsibility to put the necessary measures in place to bring London into compliance with legal limits for NO2 as soon as possible. The Mayor has received over £6.6bn of funding for transport in London since 2020, and London authorities have received further funding for specific air quality projects totalling almost £102m.

Air Pollution: Ethnic Groups and Poverty

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to reduce the impact of air pollution on (a) Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and (b) people living in poverty.

Robbie Moore: The Government recognises there is more to do to protect all people in our society and the environment from the effects of air pollution. This is why we are taking the significant and wide-ranging action to drive improvements to air quality as set out in our Environmental Improvement Plan 2023. This action is supported by the Environment Act 2021, which makes sure that local authorities have the necessary powers to tackle emissions collaboratively in their local area to improve air quality. Through the Act we also introduced two new targets for fine particulate matter, the pollutant most damaging to human health, setting a maximum annual mean concentration target and a population exposure reduction target. This dual-target approach will improve public health for all by tackling the highest concentrations whilst ensuring all areas benefit from continuous improvement. We continue to support local authorities in England to take action in their communities through the Local Air Quality Grant, which has awarded around £53 million to almost 500 projects since 2010.

Fluorinated Gases

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the availability of fluorinated gases during the planned transition to alternative gases.

Robbie Moore: We are in the process of reviewing the GB F-gas Regulation, with the view to further reducing use and emissions of F-gases to contribute to achieving Net Zero. We undertook a comprehensive review of the GB F-gas Regulation and published an assessment report in December 2022. This included a forecast of continued demand for hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and a review of the availability of technically feasible and cost-effective alternatives. We have since been developing policy options for changes to the GB F-gas Regulation. Alongside this policy development, we have continued to update our analysis and modelling to reflect the best available evidence on the availability of F-gases. We intend to go out to consultation on our proposals in due course.

Drinking Water: Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to limit levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water.

Robbie Moore: There are already statutory duties on water companies and local authorities to carry out risk assessments and sample drinking water supplies for anything which would constitute a potential danger to human health. This includes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The Drinking Water Inspectorate has a guideline value on individual types of PFAS of 100 nanograms per litre. It was set in 2021 based on an assessment of existing scientific knowledge and agreed with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to be a robust level with an appropriate margin to ensure our drinking water is safe to drink. There is no evidence of PFAS concentrations above this value in drinking water supplies. Nevertheless, work is continuing with other government departments, regulators and the devolved administrations to assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to safeguard current high drinking water quality and ensure our regulations remain fit for purpose.

Chemicals

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on a UK chemicals strategy.

Robbie Moore: We are committed to ensuring a high level of protection for human health and the environment. We have engaged with industry, academics and NGOs on our approach to managing the risks posed by chemicals now that we have left the EU. We will provide more information on our way forward in due course.

Water: Standards

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help improve water quality in (a) Enfield North Constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield, and (c) London.

Robbie Moore: Nationally, the Government published the Plan for Water in April 2023 – our comprehensive strategy for managing our water environment, including our rivers. It brings together the significant steps we have already taken with a suite of new policy actions. It aims to change the way that we manage water, improve water quality, and continue to secure our water supply. The Environment Agency works with water companies to develop and ensure investment in water quality improvements. Thames Water have delivered several actions relating to river water quality in Enfield. These have included investigations to better understand the impact of storm overflows from the sewerage system in the Pymmes Brook catchment, enhanced flow and discharge monitoring at Deephams wastewater treatment works and actions aiming to reduce the levels of pesticides and nitrates in Thames Water’s public water supply intakes. The Environment Agency also works closely with the council and the sewerage undertaker, Thames Water Utilities, to help identify and resolve pollution from misconnections in Enfield’s rivers. Defra and the Environment Agency partner and support local catchment partnerships, Local Authorities and other organisations such as Thames 21 to help protect and restore London’s water and flood plains. This includes a major wetland restoration project in Enfield connecting with the extensive reforestation project to restore Enfield Chase and Salmon’s Brook.

Fly-tipping: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to help support local authorities tackle fly-tipping in (a) Enfield North Constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.

Robbie Moore: Local authorities are responsible for keeping their public land clear of litter and refuse. In addition to strengthening enforcement powers for councils and developing a fly-tipping toolkit with the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group; our fly-tipping grants are helping councils across the country tackle fly-tipping at hotspots, such as by installing CCTV. Nearly £1.2million is already in use with a further £1million to be awarded this spring. Fourteen London LA’s have been invited to apply to the grant scheme. Of those, Newham & Waltham Forest have been awarded funding, with grants from round three yet to be announced. A selection of case studies from completed projects are available online so that others can learn about those interventions which were most successful. These can be found at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fly-tipping-intervention-grant-scheme. The Environment Agency may investigate those incidents of fly-tipping which involve the following: more than 20 tonnes, 20 cubic metres, or a tipper load of waste; organised crime; or waste that has the potential to damage the environment. The Environment Agency is not aware of any recent large scale illegal deposits of waste in the Enfield area. They have ongoing investigations into large scale organised illegal deposits of waste in other London Boroughs and are working with the Local Authority and the landowner on these incidents. Those suspected of being involved are subject to Operation Angola and an investigation into this group is ongoing.

Fly-tipping

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to improve resources available to local councils to tackle fly tipping.

Robbie Moore: Our fly-tipping grants are helping councils across the country tackle fly-tipping at hotspots, such as by installing CCTV. Nearly £1.2million is already in use with a further £1million to be awarded this spring. A selection of case studies from completed projects are available online so that others can learn about those interventions which were most successful. These can be found at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fly-tipping-intervention-grant-scheme. The PM’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan sets out how we will help councils take tougher action against those who fly-tip. Last year we raised the upper limit on the fixed penalty notices councils can issue to £1,000 and in January we laid regulations to ensure the income from these penalties is ringfenced for enforcement and clean-up specifically. These regulations are due to come into force on 1st April 2024. With the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, we are also developing a toolkit to help councils and others tackle fly-tipping. This includes guides on how to present robust cases to court and set up effective local partnerships. The toolkit, and other resources, are available online at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.

Fly-tipping

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken with local authorities to tackle fly tipping (a) nationally and (b) in Birmingham, Erdington Constituency.

Robbie Moore: Local authorities are responsible for keeping their public land clear of litter and refuse. In addition to strengthening enforcement powers for councils and developing a fly-tipping toolkit with the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group, our fly-tipping grants are helping councils across the country, including Birmingham City Council, tackle fly-tipping at hotspots. Nearly £1.2million is already in use with a further £1million to be awarded this spring. A selection of case studies from completed projects are available online so that others can learn about those interventions which were most successful. These can be found at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fly-tipping-intervention-grant-scheme. The Environment Agency (EA) may investigate those incidents of fly-tipping which involve the following: more than 20 tonnes, 20 cubic metres, or a tipper load of waste; organised crime; or waste that has the potential to damage the environment. In the last 12 months the EA received one report concerning a build-up of rubbish near residential houses within the Erdington area. No further reports were received and the EA currently has no outstanding investigations in the illegal disposal of waste in the Erdington area.

Water Companies: Pay

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ban the payment of bonuses for water bosses who fail to meet their environmental obligations.

Robbie Moore: On 12 February, the Government announced that Ofwat will be consulting on banning water bosses from receiving bonuses if a company has committed serious criminal breaches. No one should profit from illegal behaviour and water company bosses should take responsibility for inexcusable breaches damaging the environment. Ofwat will be taking forward a consultation to define the criteria for a ban. That could include successful prosecution for a Category 1 or 2 pollution incident – such as causing significant pollution at a bathing site or conservation area – or where a company has been found guilty of serious management failings. The measures form part of our long-term strategy to tackle pollution, clean up British waters and ensure a plentiful supply for the future. It builds on Ofwat’s announcement last year to tighten restrictions on bonuses.

Electronic Cigarettes: Waste Disposal

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of the impact of disposable vapes on (a) wildlife and (b) the wider environment.

Robbie Moore: A ban on the supply and sale of disposable vapes has been announced as part of the Government’s response to its consultation on smoking and vaping, launched in October last year. When littered, disposable vapes can introduce plastic, nicotine salts, heavy metals, lead, mercury, and flammable lithium-ion batteries into the natural environment. These items and substances contaminate waterways and soil, posing a risk to the environment and animal health. A ban on the supply and sale of these throwaway items will help to protect our environment, as well as future generations, from the harmful effects of disposable vapes. Defra commissioned external research to further understand the environmental harms of disposable vapes, which is published online. The objectives of this reported included understanding the UK single-use vape market, disposal methods, environmental impacts and other international approaches to regulating vapes.

Sewage: Chipping Barnet

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to reduce storm overflow discharges into Pymmes Brook.

Robbie Moore: The Government is holding the water industry to account on a scale never seen before. It has significantly driven up monitoring and transparency from water companies in recent years. This includes achieving 100% Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) coverage across England, which measures how often and for how long storm overflows are used. Thames Water have installed 8 EDMs on the Pymmes Brook. In August 2022 the Government launched the most ambitious plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows in water company history. The Environment Agency (EA) works closely with the sewerage undertaker, Thames Water Utilities, to help identify and resolve misconnections along the Pymmes Brook. Misconnections, which are difficult to trace, are wrongly plumbed connections that mean dirty water or sewage that should be directed to foul sewers or a combined drainage system has been linked to a surface water sewer. This can mean water from household appliances such as dishwashers, showers, baths or toilets, can be flowing directly into the environment. Pollution from misconnections can be from multiple sources and can be continuous, with a low to medium impact on outfalls connected to the watercourse. The EA ensures those identified polluted outfalls are added to Thames Water’s asset management plan programme to resolve.

Sewage: Chipping Barnet

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent pollution caused by plumbing misconnections in the Chipping Barnet constituency.

Robbie Moore: The Government recognises the harms that can be caused by misconnected plumbing. There are powers under existing legislation that in certain cases enable water companies to investigate and fix problems caused by misconnections, including powers of entry and powers to disconnect wrongly connected drains from public sewers. Where private drainage is unsatisfactory or causing a nuisance or hazard, local authorities can serve a notice requiring the owner to make satisfactory provision for drainage, with the ability to carry out works and recover costs where the owner fails to act.

Water Companies: Incentives

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing restrictions on the bonuses of water company bosses responsible for overseeing illegal sewage dumping by water firms.

Robbie Moore: On 12 February, the Government announced that Ofwat will be consulting on banning water bosses from receiving bonuses if a company has committed serious criminal breaches. No one should profit from illegal behaviour and water company bosses should take responsibility for inexcusable breaches damaging the environment. Ofwat will be taking forward a consultation to define the criteria for a ban. That could include successful prosecution for a Category 1 or 2 pollution incident – such as causing significant pollution at a bathing site or conservation area – or where a company has been found guilty of serious management failings. The measures form part of our long-term strategy to tackle pollution, clean up British waters and ensure a plentiful supply for the future. It builds on Ofwat’s announcement last year to tighten restrictions on bonuses.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Football: Regulation

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to create an Independent Regulator for football.

Stuart Andrew: This Government is committed to introducing a new independent regulator for English football clubs, to protect and promote the sustainability of English football for the benefit of fans and the local communities football clubs serve.The Government is working at pace to establish an Independent Football Regulator on a statutory footing as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Football: Women

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken with industry stakeholders to help improve mental health support for women’s football players.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is absolutely committed to supporting women's sport at every opportunity and we encourage all sports to continue to prioritise player welfare.The Government commissioned a review of women’s football, which examined the strategic priorities for the development of women's football and made recommendations on the future direction. The Review, published in July last year, placed a significant emphasis on the importance of player welfare and recommended uplifting the medical support requirements within licensing criteria, as well as extending players’ access to medical provision for a period of six months following retirement. The Review also highlighted the importance of performance psychologists within high-performance sports. It recommended that this role become mandatory, to provide players with a clearly identifiable route, should they wish to raise any concerns regarding their wellbeing. We expect an update from the FA and NewCo on these recommendations at the first meeting of the implementation group.

Sports: Hearing Impairment

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to create talent pathways for deaf participation in (a) elite sport and (b) the Deaflympics.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including d/Deaf people.Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore these issues and suggest potential improvements.UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.

Football: Girls

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the £30m Lioness Fund, how her Department plans to monitor how many (a) facilities are built and (b) young girls are able to participate in sport as a result of the Fund.

Stuart Andrew: This Government is committed to ensuring that women and girls are able to participate in sport and have access to high quality facilities.The £30 million Lionesses Futures Fund - made up of £25 million from the Government and £5 million from the FA - will deliver up to 30 state of the art 3G artificial pitches across the country with gold-standard provision for women and girls. These sites will be delivered by the Football Foundation and include reserved peak-time slots, women and girls only evenings and priority booking for women and girls’ teams to drive up opportunities for women and girls to get into sport. These sites are estimated to create opportunities to play for almost 8,000 unique female players.Working with the Football Foundation and Sport England, DCMS will closely monitor sites from the point of award until well into their operational period. DCMS is working with Deloitte to conduct a robust impact evaluation of these Lionesses Futures Fund sites as part of the wider Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. This will measure the extent to which the Fund has delivered increases in participation among women and girls so that learning from these interventions can be shared more widely.

Football: Women

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Government response to independent review: reframing the opportunity in women’s football, published on 4 December 2023, whether she plans to publish the outcomes of meetings of the implementation group; and whether she plans to chair those meetings.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Government response to independent review: reframing the opportunity in women’s football, published on 4 December 2023, if she will bring forward the meetings of the implementation group.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Government response to independent review: reframing the opportunity in women’s football, published on 4 December 2023, whether the implementation group will continue after the meetings in March and July.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Government response to independent review: reframing the opportunity in women’s football, published on 4 December 2023, CP 965, what discussions her Department has had with NewCo on the implementation of the recommendations of the review.

Stuart Andrew: We remain committed to hosting the initial implementation group meetings in March and July 2024 as set out in the Government response to the Review of Women’s Football. The Secretary of State will chair the first meeting of the implementation group in March 2024 and future meetings will be chaired by either the Secretary of State or Minister for Sport. We will work with stakeholders to ensure both the meeting format and frequency are appropriate. Minutes summarising actions and outcomes will be published on GOV.UK.I recently met with Nikki Doucet, the Chief Executive of NewCo to congratulate her on her appointment and to hear more about the establishment of NewCo and next steps for the women’s game. Officials have also had regular meetings with NewCo to discuss its establishment and the Review recommendations.We will continue to keep Ministers, Parliament and the Culture, Media and Sports Select Committee updated on progress.

Exercise: Children and Young People

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, why the gap in activity levels between (a) Asian and Black children and young people and (b) those of all other backgrounds has widened over the last five years.

Stuart Andrew: We are committed to ensuring that every child, no matter their background or ability, has the opportunity to play sport and be active.The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2022-23 informs us that the gap between activity levels among Asian and Black children and young people, and those of all other backgrounds, has widened over the last five years.Insight from the Active Lives survey suggests that there is no one reason why children within certain groups are less active, and that instead activity levels are affected by a variety of factors, including levels of physical literacy, and social and structural barriers that prevent children from engaging in sport and physical activity. More action is required across the sector to tackle these barriers.To address this, Get Active commits to tackling the structural disparities that exist across society, strengthening the capacity within communities to support people to be active.Our multi-sport grassroots facilities programme is providing over £400 million investment attached to explicit targets on improving access for underrepresented groups and deprived areas. The grassroots facilities programme requires 40% of funding goes to supporting participation for under-represented groups, such as women and girls and those with disabilities.

Exercise: Children

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to publication entitled Active Lives Children and Young People Survey: Academic Year 2022-23, published on 12 April 2023, what steps her Department is taking to increase levels of physical activity amongst children in years three and four.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the publication entitled Active Lives Children and Young People Survey: Academic Year 2022-23, what steps her Department is taking to increase levels of physical activity amongst Asian and Black children and young people.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve activity levels among the least affluent children and young people.

Stuart Andrew: We are committed to ensuring that every child, no matter their background or ability, has the opportunity to play sport and be active.Our new strategy, Get Active, introduces an ambition that all children should meet the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines on physical activity. As a first step towards achieving this ambition, we are introducing a target of getting over 1 million more children ‘active’ by 2030.Insight from the Active Lives Survey suggests that there is no one reason why children within certain groups are less active, and that instead activity levels are affected by a variety of factors, including levels of physical literacy, and social and structural barriers that prevent children from engaging in sport and physical activity. More action is required across the sector to tackle these barriers.To address this, Get Active commits to tackling the structural disparities that exist across society, strengthening the capacity within communities to support people to be active. Our multi-sport grassroots facilities programme is providing over £400 million investment attached to explicit targets on improving access for underrepresented groups and deprived areas. The grassroots facilities programme requires 40% of funding goes to supporting participation for under-represented groups, such as women and girls and those with disabilities.We also know that schools play a key role in allowing all children to have high quality opportunities to take part in PE and sport, setting them up for a lifetime of physical activity. We are investing over £600 million in school sport across the next two academic years to drive up the quality of physical education and ensure all children have equal access to opportunities to play sport.The Government is funding up to £57 million to deliver phase three of the Opening School Facilities (OSF) programme which allows schools to open their sport facilities outside of the core school day, in weekends and holidays. Over 1,350 schools have engaged with the programme and schools have been targeted where the funding will have the most positive impact in their communities.Outside of schools, Sport England’s £250 million investment into Place Partnerships will expand investment into local communities across England to ensure those in greatest need are able to be physically active. Data from Active Lives will be used to drive and inform this approach, and will measure the progress made in tackling inequalities across participation.

Football: Finance

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much has been spent on grassroots football since 2019; and on which projects that money has been spent.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is committed to levelling up access to community and grassroots sport - physical activity should be accessible to all, no matter a person’s background or location. As part of this commitment, the Government is delivering an historic level of direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK.Over £363 million has been invested through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme since 2019 to provide new and improved football and multi-sport grassroots facilities across the whole of the UK. Funding is delivered via The Football Foundation’s partnership with the English FA and Premier League. Details of projects that have received funding since 2021 can be found using the following link, with further projects due to be announced later this year.In England, the Football Foundation plans their investment pipeline based on Local Football Facility Plans, which have been developed in partnership with local authorities and will shortly be revised to take into account the current landscape and the needs of some other sports.Sport England has also invested an additional £85 million into projects which facilitate participation in grassroots football. For a breakdown of the projects funded across this period, Sport England publishes an updated register of grant awards on a quarterly basis, with awards dating back to 2009 listed in full.The Government is also working across departments and with external partners to highlight best practice and opportunities for inward investment into the domestic sport sector, including in women’s sport. This builds on public investment of over £600 million for school sport and PE over the next two years, with a focus on making it clear that girls have the same access as boys following the success of the Lionesses at EURO 2022 and the FIFA World Cup 2023.

Girlguiding UK: British Overseas Territories

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on girlguiding in the UK Overseas Territories.

Stuart Andrew: As an independent organisation, it is for Girlguiding to set its own organisational direction. However DCMS continues to work closely with the FCDO, MOD, Girlguiding and representatives of the Overseas Territories to explore options which support a sustainable local solution being found. In a recent Westminster Hall debate on the Future of Girlguiding UK in the British Overseas Territories, we outlined our commitment to protecting vital youth services for British young people.

Sports: Girls

Sarah Dyke: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to help encourage girls' participation in grassroots sport.

Stuart Andrew: This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone can be active.Our sport strategy, Get Active, includes the target of getting 1.25 million more women active by 2030. This will be supported by over £600 million to boost equal access in school sport. In addition, the £30 million Lionesses Futures Fund will deliver up to 30 artificial pitches across the country, creating opportunities to play for almost 8,000 women and girls.

Football: Finance

Mary Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the financial sustainability of English football.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is on the side of football fans and the local communities that football clubs serve. We have a clear plan to deliver a sustainable future for football, with fans at its heart, and our legislation will deliver this through a new independent regulator as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Youth Services

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve access to youth services.

Stuart Andrew: Helping young people is one of my priorities. Our National Youth Guarantee ensures that by 2025 every young person in England will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and volunteering opportunities. This is supported by over £500 million of investment in youth services. We have also worked with local authorities and youth sector organisations to update the statutory guidance for local authorities’ youth provision.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Domicil

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether any non-executive directors employed in her Department are non-domiciled as of 19 February 2024.

Julia Lopez: Non-executive’s personal data, including those relating to personal taxation or status, are protected by the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Collection of personal data on non-dom status is not routinely collected and is generally not required for making public appointments. If any such data was held it could only be published if doing so was in compliance with data protection law.Non executive board members are not employees of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and act in an advisory capacity. Data relating to public appointments are covered by the Public Appointments Privacy Statement found here: https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/privacy

Holiday Accommodation: Registration

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what conditions will apply for properties to remain in the proposed register for short-term lets once registered.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who will manage the proposed registration scheme for short-term lets.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what will the criteria be for properties to register as short-term lets.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether properties on the proposed register for short-term lets will be inspected.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the proposed register for short-term lets will help tackle (a) antisocial behaviour and (b) criminal activity by guests.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the proposed register for short-term lets will require landlords to manage antisocial behaviour.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what penalties will apply to owners of short-term lets if property standards are not met.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the proposed register for short-term lets will be shared with HMRC to ensure that the correct tax is paid.

Julia Lopez: Short-term lets are an integral part of the UK’s visitor accommodation offer, and the Government is clear that they bring a range of benefits to local and national economies. However, we understand that the growth in short-term lets has also brought challenges, including on the availability and affordability of homes in areas with higher numbers of short-term lets.With this in mind, and following consultation, the Government has announced its intention to implement a national, mandatory registration scheme across all of England.We want a light touch, low cost and simple scheme and do not wish to apply disproportionate new regulation on property owners that let out their home infrequently. We will therefore continue to consider the case for the potential application of a threshold in finalising the register.Work on the detailed design of the scheme will now begin at pace, and in close cooperation with industry. In order to do so, we will be reaching out to representatives of the visitor economy and likely users of the scheme to support this next phase of work.This initial phase of digital development will allow us to test how the scheme is best delivered and administered. The findings will inform how it is implemented - including on matters such as frequency of registration, which information should be collected and how the data will be used. Further details on how the registration scheme will work will be set out in the government’s response to the consultation, later this year.

Treasury

Welfare Tax Credits

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help identify tax credit claimants (a) with limited capacity, (b) who have been subject to domestic abuse and (c) with other vulnerabilities.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department has robust processes in place for Tax Credit customers that are regarded and identified as having (a) limited capacity and (b) are subject to domestic abuse. A person is treated as being at a disadvantage in getting a job if they have a range of disabilities for example when standing, using their hands, lack of dexterity, hearing or mental impairments or have sight impairment. This list is not exhaustive. For our customers who are visually impaired we can provide correspondence to be sent to them in one of the following formatsBraillelarge printaudiotapefloppy diskCD-ROM. We have a dedicated team available to deal with customers that are subject to domestic violence. All correspondence is checked prior to issue so that no sensitive information is divulged to an ex-partner (or existing partner). Customers with limited capacity and that are subject to domestic violence have access to our Extra Support Teams, this service offers them additional bespoke assistance when needed. More information and help can be found in the links below: Get help from HMRC if you need extra support: Help you can get - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Income Tax: Tax Allowances

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of raising the level of the tax-free Personal Allowance on pensioners.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve. The Personal Allowance is currently set at a level high enough to ensure that those pensioners whose sole income is the full new State Pension or basic State Pension do not pay any income tax. As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government will keep the Personal Allowance under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.

High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge

Martyn Day: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2024 to Question 7371 on High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge, when he plans to publish data on Child Benefit claimants in 2021-22.

Nigel Huddleston: The ‘Child Benefit Statistics: annual release’ will be published on the 17 April 2024. This will contain statistics on the High Income Child Benefit Charge for the tax year 2021 to 2022. This publication has been pre-announced on GOV.UK.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Regional Growth Fund: Earthly Energy

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to page 102 of his Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, published on 14 December 2023, for what reason the Regional Growth Fund payment to Earthly Energy Ltd was written off.

Simon Hoare: Earthly Energy Ltd has filed for bankruptcy as per this record at Companies House.

Sleeping Rough

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to extend the Rough Sleeping Initiative.

Felicity Buchan: Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.

Elections: Postal Services

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had recent discussions with Royal Mail on confidence in the postal system for (a) applications to vote and (b) postal votes.

Simon Hoare: Officials in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities meet regularly with the Royal Mail to discuss matters relating to elections.As part of the usual engagement ahead of the scheduled May polls I will be meeting with the Chief Executive and other representatives from Royal Mail later this month.

Housing: Fire Prevention

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the average cost of a building safety case report.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential impact of calling in building safety case reports on the insurance costs for residential buildings.

Lee Rowley: The Impact Assessment published by the department in May 2023 estimated the cost of writing a safety case report to be £3,400 for existing higher-risk buildings and £1,480 for new higher-risk buildings completed after the introduction of the new gateway requirements for building control. We are actively monitoring the feedback from leaseholders regarding the costs and discussing this with the Building Safety Regulator.From April 2024, over a five-year period, the Building Safety Regulator is expected to review safety case reports for existing higher-risk buildings as part of an application for a building assessment certificate. The Government does not expect this to impact on insurance costs for higher-risk buildings.

Affordable Housing

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2023 to Question 6616 on Affordable Housing, whether any requirement exists for Investment Partners in the Affordable Homes Programme to report insolvency to his Department.

Jacob Young: Investment Partners are required to notify Homes England of any change in their circumstances. This includes changes to their financial status, which includes insolvency.

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to change fire safety requirements for buildings over 11m; and whether he intends to extend fire safety regulations for high rise buildings to buildings under 18m.

Lee Rowley: The Government announced its intention to make provision for second staircases in tall buildings at or above a threshold height of 18m, in July 2023. A second staircase will offer additional capacity for escape and fire-fighting in the event of a significant incident. The Written Ministerial Statement of 19 February 2024 confirmed that the Building Safety Regulator will aim to publish new guidance on second staircases before the end of March 2024.The Government is not currently proposing to extend building safety regulations for high rise buildings to buildings under 18m.We continue to keep the safety requirements for buildings, including those under 18m, under review. For new buildings of any height, Building Regulations performance requirements including Part B ‘Fire Safety’ must continue to be met.

Shared Ownership Schemes: Fees and Charges

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the fees that residents on shared ownership schemes pay to (a) extend their lease and (b) sell their portion of the property.

Lee Rowley: The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill introduces a new statutory right for shared owners to extend their leases by 990 years. This will make it easier and more cost effective for shared owners to engage in this process. The Bill also introduces greater transparency for service charges and administration fees. This includes proposals to ensure that leaseholders are provided with clearer information about their service charges and administration fees, improving their ability to scrutinise and challenge them if they are unreasonable.

Local Government: Corruption

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many local authorities in England have been subject to a corruption investigation in the last 10 years.

Simon Hoare: The information requested is not held centrally.

Housing: Disability

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) M4(2) category homes and (b) wheelchair accessible homes that have been built outside of London in the last year.

Lee Rowley: The English Housing Survey collects data on accessibility and adaptations within the home; the most recent report is published online.New build homes are constructed to meet Building Regulations accessibility standards in force at the time of build; the most recent data on new build home rates was published by the Office for National Statistics on 30 January 2024.

Electoral Register: British Nationals Abroad

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much he plans to spend on encouraging (a) UK residents and (b) UK citizens living overseas to register to vote in the next general election.

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and (b) UK High Commissions and Embassies on supporting UK citizens living overseas to register to vote.

Simon Hoare: The Electoral Commission has statutory responsibility for democratic engagement and to encourage democratic participation. The Electoral Commission is funded by Parliament, via the Speakers' Committee on the Electoral Commission.In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Building Regulations

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department plans to issue (a) to registered professionals, (b) local authorities and (c) registered building control approvers who cease to be able to undertake a building control function after 6 April 2024.

Lee Rowley: It is important that the sector continues to undertake the validation and registration processes in order to meet the competence requirements set by the Building Safety Regulator. We understand that moving to a new oversight regime for building control inspectors requires a managed transition, and that the Building Safety Regulator is closely engaging the sector on this.Myself and Departmental officials are talking to the Regulator about steps that are being taken to support building control bodies and inspectors to make sure that they can continue to practice in the new regime. On both supervision and the role of Class 1 Inspectors we are working with the Regulator to make sure that guidance is published in a timely manner.

Landlords: Convictions

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many landlords have been convicted for encashing a deposit placed in a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme before the end of a tenancy agreement in the last two years.

Jacob Young: The information requested is not held centrally.

Evictions: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many no-fault evictions under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 were issued in Stockport in 2023.

Jacob Young: This data is not held at constituency level.

Private Rented Housing: Disability

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many disabled people were evicted via section 21 no-fault evictions in the private rented sector in the last year.

Jacob Young: The information requested is not held centrally.

Private Rented Housing: Older People

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that digitally excluded older people can access the Government Property Portal.

Jacob Young: The Property Portal is being designed in line with the Government’s Digital Service Standard. One of these Standards is to ‘Make sure that everyone can use the service’ including disabled people, people who do not have access to the internet or lack the skills or confidence to use it. We also intend for the Property Portal to have offline routes available to all users. To support this, the next phase of digital development of the Property Portal will include ongoing accessibility testing with representatives from all user groups.My officials have recently met with Disability Rights UK and Independent Age to discuss accessibility and the Property Portal and have reassured them of the intent to follow the Service Standard and provide an offline route for users.

Holiday Accommodation: Planning Permission

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason existing short-term lets will automatically be reclassified into the proposed planning use class for short-term lets.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many properties will automatically be reclassified into the proposed planning use class for short term lets.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of automatically reclassifying existing short-term lets into the proposed planning use class on areas with a high density of short-term lets.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance will be given to local authorities on the proposed planning use class for short-term lets.

Lee Rowley: Further details of the planning changes will be set out when the Government formally responds to the consultation.

Department for Business and Trade

Department for Business and Trade: Domicil

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any non-executive directors employed in her Department are non-domiciled as of 19 February 2024.

Greg Hands: Non-executive's personal data, including those relating to personal taxation or status, are protected by the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Collection of personal data on non-dom status is not routinely collected and is generally not required for making public appointments. If any such data was held it could only be published if doing so was in compliance with data protection law.Non executive board members are not employees of the Department for Business and Trade and act in an advisory capacity. Data relating to public appointments are covered by the Public Appointments Privacy Statement found here https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/privacy.

Small Businesses: Telephone Services

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many telephone calls were received by the Business Support Helpline (England) in each year since 2021.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Business Support Helpline (England) provides information, guidance and signposting for businesses in England. Since year 2021 to date, the helpline has received 63,705 phone calls. In addition to telephone calls, the Business Support Helpline also receives enquiries via email, webchat and social media. YearTelephone calls receivedTotal contacts2021278693967320221879327071202314916246012024 (YTD)21273427

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems: Arms Trade

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what (a) value and (b) type of (i) import and (ii) export licences have been granted to Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd in the last five years.

Greg Hands: HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. The most recent publication was on 16 January 2024 and covered licensing decisions made between 1 April – 30 June 2023.

Arms Trade: Israel

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policy on arms exports to Israel of the press notice by Amnesty International entitled Israel/OPT: New evidence of unlawful Israeli attacks in Gaza causing mass civilian casualties amid real risk of genocide, published on 12 February 2024.

Greg Hands: The Government continues to monitor closely the situation in Israel and Gaza. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against our Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including with regard to international humanitarian law. All licences are kept under careful and continual review and we are able to amend, suspend, refuse or revoke licences in response to changing international circumstances.

Department for Business and Trade: Health and Safety

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Greg Hands: Health and safety risk assessments have been undertaken in all Department for Business and Trade offices. Staff are advised to complete individual risk assessments if they regularly work from other workplaces, including home locations.

Department for Transport

Taxis: Disability

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring that taxi firms provide vehicles suitable for people with disabilities during each of their shift patterns.

Guy Opperman: The responsibility for taxi accessibility policy in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. We recognise that the provision of wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) in taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) fleets in England, however, varies considerably between areas, and that in some it may be inadequate to satisfy demand from wheelchair users. We also recognise that WAVs are difficult for some people to use and may not provide a universally accessible solution. In November we published best practice guidance for local licensing authorities in England, recommending they licence a mixed fleet of vehicles, whilst ensuring that WAV provision is sufficient to meet demand. We also propose to publish a Call for Evidence, seeking to understand the barriers that disabled taxi and PHV users face and options for addressing them.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the amount of revenue raised through fines issued as a result of fixed traffic enforcement cameras in (a) the UK, (b) England, and (c) Greater London.

Guy Opperman: The information is not currently held. In our Plan for Drivers, we have committed to a Call for evidence on options to restrict local authorities’ ability to generate surpluses from traffic offences and over-zealous use of traffic enforcement powers. This will be launched shortly.

Parking: Enforcement

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department issues guidance for local authorities on hours of operation for parking enforcement work.

Guy Opperman: Local authorities are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. The Secretary of State’s ‘Statutory Guidance to Local Authorities on the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions’ explains how to approach, carry out and review parking enforcement. It attempts to strike the balance between as much national consistency as possible, while allowing parking policies to match local circumstances. The guidance can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-enforcement-of-parking-contraventions/guidance-for-local-authorities-on-enforcing-parking-restrictions.

Taxis: Carbon Emissions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to extend the eligibility criteria for the plug-in taxi grant.

Guy Opperman: Following recent representations, the Department has extended the plug-in taxi grant for a further year to support the taxi industry. There are no plans to change the criteria.

Tamar Bridge: Tolls

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to refuse the toll rise for the Tamar Crossings.

Guy Opperman: The Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry are jointly owned and operated by Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council. Any application made to the Department for a toll revision will be considered by the Secretary of State once received.

Motorcycles: Driving Licences

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Motorcycle Industry Association’s (MCIA) report entitled MCIA and Zemo partnership action plan scorecard: realising the full potential of zero emission powered light vehicles, published in January 2024, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of that report's evaluation of the Government’s progress on delivering L-category licence reform.

Guy Opperman: We welcome the report and continue to discuss the findings with representatives of the motorcycle industry.

Network Rail: Fires

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 211 of his Department’s annual report and accounts 2022 to 2023, HC 1476, in which Network Rail property the fire occurred; and what its cause was.

Huw Merriman: The fire occurred in an old depot building in Northampton. The source of the fire was from one or more LED Lenser Lamps work lights which were charging and contained lithium-ion batteries. The fire started as a result of thermal runaway.

Transport: Exhaust Emissions

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to introduce new measures to help reduce emissions from surface transport by 2030.

Anthony Browne: In March 2023, the Government published an internationally unprecedented level of detail on its plans to meet emission reduction commitments, including those from surface transport. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan sets out the policies and quantified carbon reductions needed to meet carbon budgets 4 and 5, and the vast majority of reductions needed to meet our commitments into the 2030s. The Department regularly reviews transport’s decarbonisation policies to ensure we are on track, and are committed to publishing our progress and reviewing our net zero pathway at least every five years.

Avanti West Coast: Catering

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of Avanti West Coast’s decision to end cash payments for onboard catering on (a) people without payment cards, (b) employment levels of train catering staff,  (c) elderly people and (d) people from lower income groups.

Huw Merriman: It would be for Avanti West Coast, prior to introducing such a change, to adequately assess the impact on its passengers and staff.

Ministry of Justice

Prison Officers: Dismissal

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2024 to Question 11798 on Prison Officers: Dismissal, how many of the prison officers recommended for dismissal for having an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner or ex-prisoner were (a) dismissed and (b) prosecuted.

Edward Argar: We are unable to provide the data requested as, whilst we do hold data on the number of staff dismissed or prosecuted, this data is not held in one central place but is instead split across several datasets. We have investigated the link between these datasets but we cannot be certain that the data can be matched accurately.Dismissal due to inappropriate relationship with a prisoner/ex-prisoner is a very rare occurrence given we have over 20,000 prison officers in employment.Over the last few years we have continued to increase in capacity and deliver our counter-corruption strategy. Through the £100 million Security Investment Programme announced in August 2019, over 100 new staff were recruited into the Counter Corruption Unit. This includes regional 'Prevent' teams, dedicated to building staff resilience through training, awareness raising and individual support.

Reoffenders: Foreign Nationals

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners classified as foreign nationals have served a previous prison sentence.

Edward Argar: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. This is because it would require data linking between prison data and the Ministry of Justice extract of the police national computer.

Prisoners' Release

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons have released prisoners before the end of their sentence under the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme.

Edward Argar: End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) data, including the prisons which have released prisoners under ECSL, is intended for future publication therefore we are not able to release this information at this time.

Remand in Custody: Children

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost of remanding a child into the community is.

Edward Argar: A child being remanded into the community whilst awaiting trial can cover a wide range of arrangements, including where a child lives at home or away from home.It is the responsibility of local authorities to arrange a suitable placement when a child is remanded to Local Authority Accommodation, and to fund these arrangements. We do not mandate or hold central data for all community remand episodes and cannot therefore provide a simple average.However, based on Department for Education data, and Department for Education calculations based on data from the Personal Social Services Research Unit respectively, the average unit cost of foster care (for all children, not just those remanded by the courts) was £41,070 per annum in 2023/24, whilst the equivalent cost for residential care was £263,984. The Ministry of Justice’s Remand Review (2022) provides some examples of the cost of community remand where the child is supervised while living at home.

Prison Officers: Vacancies

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer vacancies there were in England on 31 December 2023.

Edward Argar: We are doing more than ever to attract and retain the best staff, including boosting salaries and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign. These efforts are working - we have over 4,800 FTE additional officers between March 2017 and December 2023 and retention rates for prison staff are improving.This figure is a combination of indicative vacancies at prisons with Staff in Post below their Target Staffing level and the indicative number of surplus staff at other prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target Staffing level. Prisons with surplus staff are likely to be sending those staff to work on Detached Duty at prisons with vacancies, and therefore netting vacancies against surpluses is a reasonable reflection of the overall national position.At times, we have intentionally over-recruited in certain prisons or regions to give the system wider resilience and where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level. Use of Detached Duty, a long-standing mechanism to deploy staff from one prison or region to support another, is also not reflected in the indicative vacancies number. NotesAll data is taken from Workforce Planning Tool returns and shows the average position across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.Data only covers Public Sector Prison establishments in England and will not reflect any Band 3 – 5 Prison Officers who are working in headquarters establishments (e.g. area offices), Public Sector Prisons in Wales or Privately Managed Prisons.Workforce Planning Tool returns are manually completed by staff in prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.Indicative vacancies are the difference between Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post across the entire Public Sector Prison estate in England at prisons with Staff in Post below their Target Staffing level. Indicative surpluses are the difference between Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post across the entire Public Sector Prison estate in England at prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target Staffing level.Target Staffing level is the number of staff required to run an optimal regime in each prison. This level is greater than the minimum number of staff required for a prison to operate safely, and includes allowances for staff taking leave, being off sick or being on training.The Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size.Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.Target Staffing levels are established based on a 39-hour working week. Staff in Post (FTE) is set at 1.0 FTE for those on a 39-hour contract / 1.05 FTE for those on a 41-hour contract and 0.95 FTE for those on a 37-hour contract.Target Staffing levels cannot be used to directly calculate vacancies due to the discretion governors have to change establishment level staffing requirements through Governors' Freedoms. As a result, the MoJ does not currently regularly present vacancy data and the data presented should be treated as indicative.Staff in Post data used to calculate an indicative number of vacancies does not take into account those on long-term absences (e.g. career breaks) / loans / secondments / agency staff or other forms of overtime.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Patents: Licensing

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the Department is taking to ensure that the process for the licencing of standard essential patents is the same for different sized businesses.

Saqib Bhatti: The Government recognises the growing importance of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) to the UK economy. We have conducted a Call for Views and a questionnaire of smaller businesses to better understand whether licensing of SEPs functions efficiently and effectively and are currently considering whether any changes are necessary to support innovation and competition amongst businesses both large and small.

Government Departments: Artificial Intelligence

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to page 40 of her Department's policy paper entitled A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, published February 2024, what her planned timetable is for introducing legislation to require all Departments to use algorithmic transparency recording standards.

Saqib Bhatti: In the AI white paper consultation response, we announced that use of the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) will become a requirement for all central government departments, with an intent to extend this to the broader public sector over time. Following cross-government agreement and public announcement of the overall policy earlier this month, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Central Digital and Data Office are working with government departments to finalise the detailed scope (including some limited but necessary exemptions, e.g. for national security reasons), and an agreed timeline for compliance. We intend to agree the detailed policy across government in April.  This route will provide sufficient means to assess compliance and effectiveness of the ATRS across the full range of uses of algorithmic tools in government, ensuring appropriate and proportionate exemptions are in place to protect public services.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Iron and Steel and Materials: Carbon Emissions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Addressing carbon leakage risk to support decarbonisation, published on 18 December 2023, what her Department's definition for determining low emission cement, concrete and steel is.

Graham Stuart: Following the publication of the Government response to the carbon leakage consultation in December, the Government is working to establish Voluntary Product Standards, which would provide UK industry with a framework for comparing products based on their emissions intensity. Voluntary Product Standards will incorporate the most suitable definitions of low carbon for sectors such as cement, concrete and steel, and be developed with regard to the Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative and other industry-led work. The Government will consult this year on Voluntary Product Standards and a supporting framework for reporting the embodied emissions for industrial products.

Small Modular Reactors

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she is taking steps to ensure that companies successful in the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition (a) manufacture those SMRs and (b) use supply chains domestically.

Andrew Bowie: The SMR technology selection process is an open and competitive process. The priority is to select the technologies best able to facilitate operational projects by the mid-2030s. As with any Government decision, this will be subject to value for money, relevant approvals, and technology readiness. This is an exciting time for nuclear and the scale of our ambition means there are likely to be significant supply chain opportunities associated with projects going forward.